Would you surrender your seat on an airplane for $10,000? That’s the problem some Delta passengers supposedly faced recently.
Travelers on an overbooked Delta Air Lines flight from Grand Rapids, Michigan to Minneapolis were supposedly provided as high as $10,000 to surrender their seats.
Guests flying on Delta flight 3550 run by SkyWest from Michigan to Minneapolis were patiently waiting at the gate when the crew and also a customer service agent announced that the flight was oversold.
They bid an opening of $5,000 in cash for 8 volunteers to give up their seats and also hop onto a later trip. Sadly, there weren’t any type of takers, and also Delta boosted its quote to $7,500 as soon as boarding began.
By the time most travelers boarded, the airline company had upped the bid to a monstrous $10,000 each for 8 volunteers, letting the offer echo over the almost full cabin with the passenger-announcement system. That’s a hefty $80,000 for a bit of inconvenience to a handful of passengers.
One of the flight attendants had even announced:
It’s a true story. I was on that flight! Unfortunately, I could not take advance the offer, as I was flying with my wife who has very limited eyesight. She has to have me nearby when traveling
— Todd McCrumb (@ToddMccrumb) June 28, 2022
Inc. publication innovation writer Jason Aten that initially shared the bidding process claimed in a follow-up tweet:
“Yes, all six of us are still on the flight I don’t want to talk about it.”
Daily Cable additionally reported an incident that happened back in April 2017 where travelers who consented to quit their seats on overbooked flights will be given payment:.
In April 2017, Delta sent employees an internal memo giving them authority to offer compensation of up to $9,950 to travelers who agreed to give up their seats on overbooked flights, the Post reported.
The news comes as summer travel gets more chaotic amid high gas prices, weather cancellations, overbooked flights, and airline staffing shortages. Some of this is residual from the pandemic, with more pilots taking early retirement. Also more people are traveling this year than in 2020 and 2021.
Delta CEO Ed Bastian apologized for recent trip hold-ups and terminations in a LinkedIn article on Thursday.
“If you’ve encountered delays and cancellations lately, I apologize. We have spent years establishing Delta Air Lines as the industry leader in reliability and while most of our flights continue to operate on time, this level of disruption and uncertainty is unacceptable.”
H/T: Patriot Nation Press, DailyWire, New York Post
